My sister gave me this beautiful lipstick palette for my birthday and I just
haven’t gotten a chance to try it yet! Well, today was the day! The Urban Decay “Vice” lipstick palettecomes with 12 colors and a retractable lip brush. The
packaging is absolutely beautiful. I love the overlay over the colors that says
“lipstick is my vice”. The packaging feels really substantial and expensive
feeling. I am a very neutral lip color person. Apart from a red lip, I rarely
venture into other colors than nudes and pinks, so when I got this palette I
knew it would allow me to try things I never had bef

ore. So, without further
ado, lets get into the colors!!

(I am going to talk about them in the order they are in the
palette)

Sheer Shame

This one surprised me because it looks realllly dark in the
palette but it actually comes out as a sheer pink/ purple color on the lips
(duh… should have realized from the name!). I really liked this one a lot more
than I was thinking I would. This color would be great for a little brighter of
an every day color, like a fun summer event or something! It also applied
nicely and because of the sheerness, it was super easy to hide and mask
application mistakes!

Firebird

OMG this color is bright. It is a great basic HOT pink (with
a touch of purple)! It has a glossy finish that really catches the light and
brings out its brightness/ awesomeness. This would be great for a fun night out
with a statement lip. This one was pretty nice to apply as well, however
because of the bright color it was harder to hide and fix mistakes.

Big Bang

This is the only color in the palette that had glitter in
it, and 10 year old me was super excited. This is a fun bubblegum pink color
with lots of iridescent glitter in it. This is a nice color because the glitter
doesn’t come off as “disco ball” on your lips but its definitely noticeable. It
allows the light to catch this color nicely and really brings the focus to the
lips.

Disobedient

This color is a fun Barbie pink color. This one has a glossy
finish that is perfect for summer days! Still would be a jump for me to wear
this color on the reg but the color is so pretty, and im such a pink fan, I
definitely think it can be done!

EZ

Wow, this one is red. This is the glossy red in the palette,
and boy is it bright. I thought I was going to like the other color better
(714, which is coming up next) because I tend to like more matte lip colors,
but I actually liked this one better! I mean, if you’re gonna go red, go RED! And
this one definitely does that. Might be wearing this one to a couple holiday
parties / events this season! (here’s looking at you MICU holiday part!!)

714

This is the red I was most excited to try, but it kinda fell
flat in my opinion. I love a red lip (.. because I think I am Taylor Swift)..
and I tend to like matte reds more than glossy ones (they stay better and
require less thought and maintenance). This color was dry on the lips, hard to
apply because it didn’t go on very evenly, and hard to correct when I made application
mistakes.

Vanished

Surprisingly, I am disappointed in this color. As I said, I tend
to gravitate toward nudes, but this one is straight up concealer. It is a
glossy finish, but I could barely even see it on my lips, and after putting
coat after coat on, I finally just gave up.

1993

So this is the first of the “browns” that are in the palette.
I was most nervous to try the browns because I have literally never worn a straight
up brown lip before, but this palette is full of them (well.. there’s 3). I
didn’t hate it as much as I thought, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite of
the 3. This was a little darker than I would normally wear, and matte. It was
easier to apply than 714 (the other matte color) but still not something I
would reach for first.

Ex Girlfriend

This is by far the winner. When I opened the palette this
morning, this was the color I applied for the day. I mean, very typical of what
I normally wear, so kinda not the point of this post, but this glossy darker
pink wore really nicely throughout the day, only requiring 1 reapply, which is
pretty good for a glossy color. I mean, I can go on and on about this one, but
I wont, because this is the most basic color in the palette!

Amulet

So this is the second of the browns, and I definitely liked this
one the best. It is the lightest, glossy and has a little bit of shimmer in it.
It actually looks a little pink in the picture (maybe because this was the 11th
color I had on and my lips were raw from makeup remover…) but this is
definitely something I would wear on a daily basis. I also like it because it
looks much darker in the pot, which makes me feel a little badass if I were
going to pick it out!

Conspiracy

This is the third of the browns. This one actually wasn't that bad either. It is the darkest of the three, but I really liked the gloss and a little bit of iridescence it has. I would wear this to a night event or dinner. Looking at the picture it isn't appearing as dark as I thought it was on my lips, so maybe that's a good one! Who knows, maybe it will turn out to be one of my faves!

Blackmail

OK this is the doozie of a color. This is the darkest,
vampy-est and most daring color. This is a dark purple that can almost look
black (as it does in the pot). I tried this one last because I was so afraid of
it. So the verdict? Actually not terrible! It would definitely take a lot for
me to wear it, and to the right event, but if I channel my inner Kylie Jenner,
I think I would dare to wear this for an evening… so stay tuned, maybe I will
one day!!

Well that’s it! I hoped this gave you a good idea of the
colors in this palette! I would say its definitely worth the buy, its easy to
travel with (comes with its own brush, which by the way I used to apply all the
colors) and has a color for pretty much anything you need.

Hope everyone’s having a nice Sunday and preparing for the week
ahead!

So I think it is now well established that I am not the most
consistent with posting (sorry!!) but I’m trying!! This week has been EXTREMELY
busy, with both social and school related things. I have been either at work,
school or clinical every day lately, and it’s draining! I laugh at myself when I
hear myself complaining because, everyone else in the world works 5 days a week…
but when you’re not used to it it’s hard!!

Ok, I digress.

Here’s some of my favorite things that helped me get through
this week!!

What I’m Wearing:

Since I’ve been going to clinical so often, my designated “business
clothes” have gotten a lot of wear this week!! One thing I have a tough time
with when dressing for clinical is shoes. I have weird feet and a lot of shoes
cause blisters if I wear them all day. If I could wear Uggs every day, I would.
My saving grace this semester has been just simple black Toms. They’re not the
most fashionable but they’re black, plain, go with everything, and don’t hurt
my feet at all. Winner in my book!! I also have them in a white lacey pattern
(that I wore a lot to clinical in the summer), and red, but the blacks have
become my go to since they just go with everything!!

What I’m Watching:

So I am pretty sure I am the only human who hasn’t watched
this/ been obsessed with this, but I am trying to watch Game of Thrones. So
many people love this series, I knew I had to give it a try (plus I thought it
would give me some good convo for dates…). I started it a few months ago and
got through season one, but had a hard time starting season 2. I enjoy it, don’t
get me wrong, but I tend to like shows that are a little “lighter” and don’t require
so much concentration as I’m watching, since I usually like to have TV shows
playing as I am doing something else, so I find it difficult to set aside hours
of time to devote to watching. This past week though I started watching season
2 with my dad (super awkward… prob wont do that again). Idk, I’m gonna get
through it.. slowly but surely! I have faith!!

What I’m Listening
To:

There’s this new song I heard on Sirius the Highway. It’s called
“Own It” by Bailey Bryan. I think its so catchy and I can really relate to the
lyrics! Go check it out!

What I’m Doing:

This weekend I was able to take a quick break from
schoolwork and I went up to Massachusetts for a “Friendsgiving” one of my
college friends hosted!! I was excited for this because 1. I LOVE Thanksgiving
food, and I am working Thanksgiving this year! And 2, I rarely get to see my
college friends, who all live in Massachusetts, especially since I started
school. I try to get up there to visit as much as I can, but I can’t help but feeling
sad when events happen that I can’t go to, so I was super pumped I was able to
make this one work out. I even got to see one of my close friends who had
gotten engaged since the last time I saw her! It was such a fun weekend, it
always makes me feel good when I see my college friends, and even though its
been months since I’ve seen them, we always pick up right where we left off. That’s
how you know you have friends for life!

I wanted to do a quick post today about something that
happened to me yesterday that I thought was worth the share.

Yesterday I was driving to my women’s health clinical and I
stopped at the Starbucks drive through for a much needed caffeine boost. This
particular Starbucks I go to always has a long drive through line. I was
running a little late but I really wanted to stop. As I was waiting in the line
between giving my order and receiving/ paying for my drink I was getting more
anxious as the minutes clicked by. I felt myself getting annoyed at the people
in front of me as well as the Starbucks workers themselves. I like to think I
am a pretty positive person but I do find that I get very frustrated when I am
forced to wait for things (product of my generation I guess).

Finally, it was my time to receive my delicious hot coffee,
pay and be on my way. The girl in the window, visibly flustered, asked what my
drink order was. I realized that the hold up on everyone’s order was obviously
because things girl was new and incompetent, so I repeated my order in a
sassier-than-necessary tone and shoved my phone out the window so she can scan
my Starbucks card. Then the girl said “your drink is actually already paid for.”

This shocked me. 1. I have never been apart of something
like this (but I have heard of events like this on Facebook, and even
somethings think of starting one when I am in a drive through, but never have
the guts to). 2. I instantly felt mortified for being so annoyed at this situation.
I told the girl that I would be more than happy to pay for the person’s drink
who was behind me, and left feeling invigorated with a big smile on my face.

This event reminded me that the smallest acts of kindness
are necessary for our society to grow. In a time when there is much animosity
between many different social groups, offering a small kind gesture to a
complete stranger is required of us to restore the focus on humanity. The person
before me had no idea who I was, what the color of my skin is, what political
party I identify with or what religion I practice. They reached out in kindness
to me because I am a human (who also happens to enjoy overpriced coffee). This
is something that I personally forget to do on a regular basis, and now will
strive to sprinkle “random acts of kindness” throughout the lives of the people
I am blessed to interact with.

Just thought I’d share a little about how I’ve been feeling
this week as we gear up for the weekend!

I know it’s the day after but I was just having so much fun this
weekend and yesterday, I didn’t get time to post!!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year because
it allows me to feel like a kid again without being judged for “acting immature”.
I love when adults are able to let down their guard and just have fun with
something again. A lot of things in life are taken very seriously (as they
should be) but I am always a proponent of bringing an element of fun and
lightheartedness to situations. I feel like it allows stressful, important
situations to be more enjoyable, and, in my opinion, will bring positive
results.

My family has never really had a lot of Halloween traditions,
it always falls in a really busy time of year as we are gearing up for winter,
and looking forward to the bigger holidays that are rapidly approaching.
However, there are a few things that I enjoy doing every year that really get
me in the spirit of Halloween.

1.Giving out candy.

Although the fun years of trick-or-treating
are behind me (unfortunately), I really enjoy giving out candy to the trick or
treaters. I love seeing their costumes and just the joy on their faces are they
frolick throughout my neighborhood. I live in a very residential area so the
trick-or-treating is always

pretty good, although I must admit the number of
trick or treaters has dropped recently due to the “trunk or treat” fad that’s going
on.

I kind of hate “trunk or treat” because,
while its nice to have a fun, safe, contained area for kids to trick or treat,
1 its rarely on the actual Halloween day, and 2 I think it would be extremely
creepy for me (or anyone else for that matter..) to show up with my car, a bag
of candy, and no children.

This year I decided to go to my cousin’s
house and spend Halloween with her 9 month old, adorable, light of my life son.
He dressed up like a lobster and it was pretty much the absolute best thing
ever.

2.Dressing up

I usually try to find some kind of a party
or Halloween festivity to go to that will allow me to get dressed up in a
costume. I used to love dressing up and going out for Halloween in undergrad,
but unfortunately since I’ve graduated my work schedule hasn’t let me attend
that many Halloween parties.

This year, I was able to go to my friend’s Halloween
party on Saturday which was so fun. Everyone was in full on costume which was
so festive. I dressed up in a “The LittleMermaid” onesie that I got from Target last week. I couldn’t decide at all
what I wanted to be and while perusing on Target’s website I found so many
potential costumes!

The party had food, drinks and overall
merriment, which is pretty much what Halloween is all about!

3.Halloween movies

I have a love hate relationship with scary
movies. It’s always hit or miss on whether I will really like it or won’t be
able to sleep for a month, so I tend to steer clear of horror movies,
especially if they involve evil spirits (literally made my college roommate
walk me to the bathroom after watching the Exorcism of Emily Rose).

What I do love though are fun Halloween
movies like Halloweentown and, of course, Hocus Pocus. The fun tradition of
watching these movies every October is something I look forward to all year
long.